Tenitra Michelle Williams was born on July 23, 1979, and is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who rose to fame in the 2000s as a member of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child.
During the group's two-year hiatus from 2001 to 2003, Michelle released her debut solo album Heart to Yours in 2002, which topped the US gospel album chart and became the best-selling gospel release of the year.
In 2002, Billboard named Michelle the fifth-best gospel artist of the year, and she received a MOBO Award for "Best Gospel Act". She followed this up with her second solo album Do You Know in 2004, which earned her a nomination for "Best Gospel Act" at the 2004 MOBO Awards.
After Destiny's Child disbanded in 2006, Michelle released her first pop album Unexpected in 2008, which spawned the internationally charting single "We Break the Dawn" and the US Dance number-one "The Greatest".
Her fourth studio album Journey to Freedom was released in 2014 and received positive reviews, becoming her highest-charting album in the US. The album was preceded by the lead single "If We Had Your Eyes", which reached the US Adult R&B top 20, and the Soul Train-nominated "Say Yes", which charted internationally and topped the US Hot Gospel Songs chart for seven weeks.
Journey to Freedom was nominated for "Outstanding Gospel Album (Traditional or Contemporary)" at the 46th NAACP Image Awards and earned Michelle four nominations at the 30th annual Stellar Awards, winning Music Video of the Year for "Say Yes".
Michelle has also found success as a television, Broadway, and West End theatre actress, gaining a nomination for "Best Lead Female – Equity" in 2008 at the 18th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards. She made her acting debut on Broadway in Aida in 2003 and has since starred in the sitcom series Half & Half in 2006 and the musical productions The Color Purple in 2007, Chicago in 2009-10, What My Husband Doesn't Know in 2011, and Fela! in 2013.
Michelle has also appeared on both the American and British versions of The Masked Singer as "Butterfly" and "Rockhopper" respectively, and has been a featured judge on MTV's Top Pop Group and a contestant in season 8 of Strictly Come Dancing in the United Kingdom.
She has earned several awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as part of Destiny's Child, as well as a solo MOBO Award and Stellar Award.
